Making the World a Better Place – One Review at a Time

Money MonsterRated R for language throughout, some sexuality and brief violenceRotten Tomatoes Score: 58%Available on DVD and Blu-rayJodi Foster directs this high intensity thriller about a Jim Cramer-like figure (played here by George Clooney) whose wacky investor TV show causes an unstable and angry man to take him hostage on live TV due to bad advice given on a previous segment. The movie is a relevant nail-biter with some very good performances, but Clooney is terribly miscast and the screenplay is a mess in regards to believability. It feels like the movie could have been so much more but they settled for way less than its potential. B-

The Ones BelowRated R for language, some sexuality and some nudityRotten Tomatoes Score: 71%Available on DVD and Blu-rayThis thriller focuses on two expecting married couples living in the same house on different floors. When the couple on the bottom floor loses their baby and blames the couple above, a strange and scary dynamic grows between them. While it’s sold as a horror film, it plays more like a Hitchcock thriller, full of suspense and discomfort. The performances are terrific, providing an authenticity you normally don’t get from a film such as this. It’s a very dark path to the end, but if you like this sort of genre, it will stick with you. B+

Road HouseRated RRotten Tomatoes Score: 39%Available on Blu-rayIn this super cheesy 80’s action pic, Patrick Swayze stars as a bouncer hired to come in and clean up a local bar to make it more respectable. Once he gets into town, he is forced to deal with the local crime lord. While it really is a terrible movie, it still holds nostalgia with me so for that reason I can loosely recommend it. In addition, the new transfer looks and sounds great and there is a lot of new material in the two disc set in case you are a big fan. B-

South Park: The Complete Nineteenth SeasonAvailable on DVD and Blu-rayIt’s hard to believe that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have kept this thing going for as long as they have. It’s even harder to believe that almost 20 years after its first season, they have created their best and most relevant season yet. Here in 19 the boys are still the same age and the town of South Park has been gentrified with a new Whole Foods and other suburban luxuries designed for a thriving middle class. In addition, there is a new frat boy principal (PC Principal) who helps to usher in social consciousness while slamming beers with his bra’s (bro’s in frat speak). It is a fabulous set of episodes, breathing new life into a very long-running series. A